Don’t pass out from shock! I’m actually back with a new performance after months away, following a recording of Clocks by Coldplay. The truth is, I’ve been practicing all that time, but the music has become much more complicated. I’ve also been learning classical pieces, introducing a whole new level of difficulty. All that to say, it’s taking a lot longer to get these mastered to the point of being comfortable recording.
We’ll keep things in the pop music world for this edition — going back a handful of decades to 1970. In May of that year, a brother-sister duo released what became their breakthrough hit. (They Long to Be) Close to You by the Carpenters came from their second album and was their first Gold-certified single. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts and earned the Carpenters their first Grammy Award.
The song is a Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition. It’s a syrupy love song from a bygone era, but it has a sweet innocence. The illustrious Wrecking Crew played on this hit, with Chuck Findley performing the flugelhorn solo, which Richard Carpenter had originally written for Herb Alpert.
Karen Carpenter really sold the vocal, despite the cringeworthy lyrics:
Why do birds suddenly appear
Every time you are near?
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you
Why do stars fall down from the sky
Every time you walk by?
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you
On the day that you were born
The angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold
And starlight in your eyes of blue
That is why all the girls in town
Follow you all around
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you
[HORN SOLO]
On the day that you were born
The angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold
And starlight in your eyes of blue
That is why all the girls in town
Follow you all around
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you
[FALSE END]
Waaaa, close to you
Waaaa, close to you
Haaaa, close to you
Laaaa, close to you
The sheet music I have for this is very basic. It’s more-or-less a lead sheet or fake sheet. Because of that, it’s missing a few key elements. At my request, Trevor, my teacher, helped put something together to cover the famous piano open. I added a solo by ear to cover the flugelhorn, and did the same for the main ending that fades out in the original song. Trevor and I then composed a unique ending to my performance. Also, I played with octaves a bit, which isn’t in the sheet music. To go beyond what was on the printed page was a challenge, but it sure was fun, too:
My next piece is something simple before tackling classical repertoire. I hope to have the recording up in June.